Hannah Warren: Missing woman, 28, drove into freezing lake and drowned a year after being raped
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PORT TALBOT, WALES: A missing woman who was allegedly raped in 2015 died the following year after her car sank into a freezing lake 200 miles from home, an inquest heard. Hannah Warren, 28, managed to free herself from the submerged Mini convertible and swim to nearby rocks. However, an inquest heard that she fell back into the cold water near a Tata Steel site in Port Talbot and drowned. Her body was discovered more than 100m from where her car hit the lake on February 4, 2016.
Hannah's devastated mother Jane Barnes told an inquest today, January 17, how her daughter died exactly a year to the day she was allegedly raped by a colleague. She was undergoing counseling sessions after she revealed the incident to her younger brother. Hannah reportedly went missing from home in Streatham, South West London, on February 3. At around 6 am, she vanished in her car and later texted her boss to tell him she wanted to resign from her job at an office design company in London.
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Hannah then made the 200-mile journey to Port Talbot where she drove into the water from a quayside road that had no safety barriers. Home office pathologist Dr Ryk James told the hearing that she believes that Hannah died because of drowning. The 28-year-old's face and body were covered in a number of bruises. She had marks on her neck that indicated a ligature could have been placed around it.
Dr James, however, stated that this was caused by the car's seatbelt. There were "low" levels of cocaine and cannabis in Hannah's body but the medical report could not clearly state if this was sufficient to "impair her behavior." It was also stated in the inquest that she was in a "distorted" state of mind at the time of her death. During the hearing, Hannah's mother broke into tears and remembered how Hannah had been in a relationship for two years with a colleague, David Murray, who was “titled."
In December 2015, the couple was planning to move in together but he apparently told Hannah she was "not good enough for him" the day before. Barnes said this made her daughter feel "low" and she discarded her plans to live with Murray. She also canceled a planned trip to South Africa that Christmas to see his family.
"It was very sad because Hannah loved him," the mother said, according to The Sun. Barnes also mentioned how her daughter worked hard day and night to land herself a crucial role at an office refurbishment company in London. Hannah was said to have received a phone call from her boss criticizing her efforts in the months leading up to her death. The inquest continues.